All these things that I’ve done…

Offences can stay on a criminal record no matter how long ago the trial. How are criminal records treated and who needs to disclose what?

On many job application forms you’re likely to see some reference to the ‘Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974’ alongside a couple of boxes marked ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

It’s usually only a small section of the form but when it comes to your chances of getting a job, it’s one of the most important questions you’ll be asked.

This is the part of the employment process in which you’re being asked if there is anything you’re obliged to tell the prospective employer about any previous convictions you may have that are not yet considered ‘spent’ according to the Act.

Criminal records are not as uncommon as some may think – just over nine million of the UK population have one – and so it’s important to understand how criminal records are dealt with and what the repercussions can be of being issued one.

As someone who looks at criminal records on a daily basis, I often find that they fall into two categories.

The first shows one or two offences suggesting the owner slipped up and probably regrets whatever led them to the entries on their record.

The second almost come across as the criminal equivalent of a CV – they are an odd representation of someone’s life starting with petty offences and borstal before graduating on to more serious crimes and spells spent in prison as the person grows older.

Recently amended by the memorably named ‘Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012‘, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act sets out how long it is before offences are considered ‘spent’ and no longer have to be mentioned when employers supply you with those tick boxes.*

For prison sentences, the Act gives time frames during which an offence has to be disclosed, so for an adult an offence for which they were sentenced to up to four years in prison will not be ‘spent’ until seven years after the date on which the sentence was due to be completed. A sentence of over four years will never become spent.

These periods step down according the length of a sentence with a six month sentence becoming spent after two years and are shorter for offenders who were under eighteen at the time of their conviction.

Not wanting to unnecessarily boggle anybody so I’ll not expand here, the Act explains what happens when things get complicated with multiple offences and also sets out how non-custodial disposals – fines, discharges etc – are dealt with.

Adult cautions, juvenile reprimands and final warnings don’t count as criminal convictions and so need not be disclosed, although if specifically asked they should be mentioned and will show up on an enhanced criminal records bureau check.

When it comes to motoring offences, a driving ban doesn’t become spent until the date on which the ban ends and under the new amendment to the Act, fines are relevant for twelve months as opposed to five years under the old wording.

What will show up in a criminal record check and what won’t often depends on the level of check that’s being performed.

If you’re applying to work as a scientist in one of the government’s secret UFO labs that don’t officially exist, expect to undergo an enhanced CRB check which which give a more in depth view of a criminal background than is normally the case.

Members of the public are entitled to view the content of their own criminal record should they have one and can usually apply to their local police force for a disclosure.

Information on how to do this in the West Midlands is available here.

In addition under ‘Sarah’s Law‘, someone concerned about the offending history of someone with access to a child can apply for disclosure of their relevant offending history – see here for more information.

Carrying a criminal record can cause issues when it comes to applying for jobs, courses and travelling as this article from the BBC highlights.

These consequences often aren’t considered at the time but with hindsight, many people wish they had been when they are refused travel visas due to previous offences.

As for how long convictions stay on a record, police forces used to ‘step down’ offences after a period so that they no longer appeared on a record, however this practice was stopped after a judgement by the Court of Appeal in 2009.

Recently highlighted by some PCC candidates being forced to stand down as a result of minor offences thirty or forty years ago, there have been calls for similar historic offences to be struck off criminal records and to this end a review has recently been published in which such a recommendation was made.

I’d say the above represents only a starting point on a subject that isn’t too easy to understand and controversial also, especially when it comes to the retention and disclosure of private information.

It’s should be remembered that offences have to be looked at in context, that an offending history represents only the offences that have come to the attention of the police and that at the same time, they don’t represent the efforts someone has made to rehabilitate and amend for past mistakes.

As it is often down to the employer how to view an offending history, it’s important that decisions are made with proper understanding and not with prejudices about the criminal law system.

Whilst some offences will always be disclosed and from a public protection point of view, quite rightly so, ‘rehabilitation’ is the key word and having a criminal record should never stand in the way of this important concept.

* The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act was signed earlier this Summer but at time of writing has not yet been implemented. According to the Government, December 3rd 2012 seems a likely date for it to come into force.

These boots were made for walking…

No mighty tempest was going to put the Walsall Police Walking Club off a trip to the Peak District!

As you may have noticed previously on this blog, us police officers are an adventurous lot.

Last year in June we went to Snowdonia for a failed attempt at the Welsh 3000s and then try, try, tried again in July and completed the epic route in around fifteen hours.

Amongst a few other smaller walks this May we ‘smashed’ the Yorkshire Three Peaks, stomping all over the faces of the mountains like they were mere molehills.

Some would have thought that the range of injuries, lost kit and moments of panic that we experienced during these little sorties would have been enough to put us off but no, last Thursday we loaded our first aid kits onto the minibus and drove up to Leek, drove around in circles a few times and then onto Upper Hulme where we stopped for a walk up over The Roaches.

It wasn’t looking to be the best day for it with multiple weathermen (and weatherladies) insisting that the route could only be completed in canoes but being determined/foolhardy walkers we decided that there was no such thing as inappropriate weather, only inappropriate clothing, and so set off nonetheless.

Surprisingly we stayed dry and whilst it didn’t really get light all day and the wind was strong enough to blow some of our lighter members into the sky Mary Poppins style, I think everyone had a pretty decent walk.

A couple of hats were blown off along the way but nobody died (my benchmark for success) and even a couple of feet sinking into muddy bogs couldn’t put a damper on the day.

I think our route was around eleven miles long and unlike some of our previous routes, didn’t involve too much clambering up sheer rock faces. The views from the ridges were fantastic as always and the shelter from the wind provided by the woods near Gradbach was very welcome too.

The promised rains came about fifteen minutes after we got back to the minibus and made the trip back down the M6 a little interesting but we got back in one piece, had a bite to eat and then went our separate ways filled with good memories and ‘smothered chicken’.

If you’re interested in walking up in the Peak District, or indeed in walking in general, I’d recommend you take a look at the rather excellent Walking Englishman website which is where we took our route from. The route that we (very approximately) completed was this one – it comes well recommended.

Maybe I don’t really want to know how your garden grows…

Cannabis factories, a ‘growing’ problem but how can you tell if there’s one near you?

In the past four weeks I have attended two cannabis factories, been to one house where harvested cannabis was being dried and I’ve witnessed the pile of seized hydroponic equipment outside the property store being added to on a daily basis.

It’s estimated that us police types are raiding three cannabis factories every day across Britain, they’re a regular discovery around the West Midlands and whilst we’re doing our best to disrupt the trade, the factories that our Cannabis Disposal Teams rip apart only represent the tip of the iceberg.

It’s common to find cannabis farms set up in residential houses and factory units – one of the largest growing operations of the past few years was uncovered inside an industrial building just behind Bloxwich Police Station – and criminals are more than happy to tap straight into the mains to power the heat lamps required to make their crop grow.

As it is the case that the cannabis farmers often use residential locations to grow their crops, having members of the public keeping an eye open for suspicious activity and passing information onto ourselves is crucial.

What should you be looking for though? How can you spot a cannabis farm?

Assuming you’ve got your deerstalker on and magnifying glass in hand, here are some of the clues that hint a cannabis factory may be nearby:

• Strange smell – One of the most obvious signs, cannabis is referred to as ‘skunk’ for a reason. Its sweet smell is very hard to disguise and drifts through thin walls and open windows.
• Covered windows – In many of the factories that I’ve visited, the windows have been papered over or the curtains kept closed. It helps keep in the heat and light and is a strong sign that there’s something inside somebody’s trying to hide.
• Pots and soil etc being brought in – Much of the equipment needed to grow cannabis is bulky. Lamps, ventilation tubing, pots and soil being brought in at funny hours suggest your neighbour isn’t growing marrows.
• Odd comings and going – One job I went to started off with a report that a minibus full of people had been seen arriving at an empty house at five in the morning, we arrived and found they were illegal immigrants about to set up a cannabis farm.
• Neighbours that don’t quite fit in – DrugScope suggest that three quarters of cannabis farms are run by Vietnamese gangs although it’s certainly not exclusive to one ethnicity, anyone can be tempted to try and grow cannabis.
• Shy occupants – If neighbours have set up a growing operation, they’ll be keen to attract as little attention as possible. Suspicions should be raised if you think a house is occupied but you never see the people living there.
• Lots of banging and noise – As you can see from the photo, cannabis farms require some extensive ‘renovations’ which won’t be quiet work. You may also be able to hear air circulation fans running constantly.
• Heat coming through walls – Cannabis plants don’t get on particularly well with the British weather so heat lamps are required, you may well be able to feel the surplus heat escaping through adjoining walls. It’s also quite noticeable to the thermal imaging camera on our helicopter.
• Electrical problems or a rise in your bill – Heat lamps are electricity thirsty and rather than pay for the electricity, cannabis farmers usually (and very dangerously) hook directly up to the mains. In one factory they’d dug under the road and linked straight to the street’s main supply, the electricity company had to dig the street up to fix the damage.
• Odd things left in the rubbish – Look out for bags of cuttings, empty cannisters of plant growth formula and the like.
• Strange pattern of occupancy – Cannabis farmers usually rent their properties, if you notice a house that’s been unoccupied for a while being taken over by someone who doesn’t move in any furniture or appear to be running a business, it may be that they’re stripping the property out for a farm.
• Rise in humidity – Just as cannabis plants like heat, they also need a high level of humidity to grow. This may well be noticeable, as might the sound of the humidifiers.
• Vents visible – Look out for silver coloured piping hanging out of windows, hose pipes leading indoors too are a give away.
• Lights left on – If the windows haven’t been completely covered, you may be able to see bright yellow light escaping.

If you’ve noticed any of the above, it’s a good possibility that someone might be operating a cannabis factory nearby.

Please give us a call on 101 and let us know as we’re always happy to come around with the ‘big red key’ and have our burly Cannabis Disposal Team tear apart the hydroponic equipment with their teeth.

Alternatively you can supply the information anonymously via Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting their website.

The most recent cannabis find I’d attended came to our attention as a result of an anonymous call from a resident – it’s hard to say just how valuable these sort of calls are to us so if any of the above indicators have stood out to you, please don’t delay in letting us know.

Help us nip the problem in the bud!

Mr Jones…

Meet Bob Jones, the newly elected Police & Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands.

A very brief post this, I just wanted to take a moment to welcome Bob Jones to his new role as Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands following his winning of yesterday’s PCC election.

You may have noticed that this is the first time I’ve mentioned the PCC elections in a few weeks, not because I’d forgotten they were taking place but rather due to a word that I’d never heard of previously called ‘purdah’.

What ‘purdah‘ means, if like me you didn’t know, is that there is a period leading up to an election during which certain people have to avoid doing anything that could unduly influence the course of the election. For us officers, it meant we couldn’t really mention it at all.

Anyhoo, with purdah now concluded with the announcement of the results, allow me to tell you a little about our new PCC.

Mr. Jones is a Labour party councillor from the Wolverhampton area. He was a long standing member of the former Police Authority and was recently awarded a CBE for ‘services to policing’.

His key election pledges were to:

• Protect neighbourhood policing from further government cuts
• Retain Police and Community Support Officers
• Oppose the privatisation of core policing services
• Fight for a fair funding deal for the West Midlands Police Service
• Set up local policing boards in each area to ensure local people set local  priorities
• Put victims first by ensuring that funding for Victim Support is safeguarded
• Steer young people away from crime and gang culture by encouraging the police to work with schools, local councils and voluntary organizations

Mr Jones will take office on the 22nd of this month and will have responsibility for setting the Force’s budget, defining objectives and holding the Chief Constable to account.

As you’ll have no doubt read and be expecting at least some reference to in anything published about the PCC elections, voters were perhaps a little shy with the turnout in the West Midlands being 12% but so it goes – not really sure what to say about that one.

For more information on the PCC elections, take a look at my blog on the subject from a few months ago.

You can find out more about the elections in general by checking out the BBC News website and if you’d like to know a little more about Mr Jones, have a look at his website.

There’s also a dedicated website for the West Midlands PCC post which you can browse here.

P.S. Struggled with an appropriate song for this blog as there are few, if any, tracks that reference the PCC elections in any meaningful way. As it is I went for the Counting Crows song, one I don’t much like to be honest but needs must…

A change is gonna come…

Time for a reshuffle in Walsall – what’s happening though?

If you’re keenly following my Twitter feed you may have noticed that squeezed inbetween updates on Creme Eggs, foxes and rest days jigs, I’ve put out a few messages recently about coming changes to our organisation in Walsall and the possibility of me changing roles.

This is all part of the Force’s ‘Continuous Improvement’ program, with the changes coming to Walsall next January having already taken part in other areas of the West Midlands over the course of the last year.

As I have written about before, the Force is required to find savings of £125 million over a four year period and as such we’ve had to look at how we operate and find ways in which we can increase efficiency.

Baring in mind what someone once said about there being ‘no problems, only opportunities’, a task force was tasked with looking at the force and thinking about how we could modernise our structure and make the most of new ideas and technologies.

Some of the benefits of this program have already reached us here in Walsall, with paperless crime recording systems and centralised services being more sensible ways of working than our old ways which often involved carrier pigeons, pulleys and steam engines.

At the moment our core structure is based around response teams who answer the 999 calls, neighbourhood teams who focus on local issues and a small prisoner handling team who take on some of the prisoners finding residence in our cells.

These teams work alongside other departments such as CID, plain clothes ‘secret squirrel’ officers, offender managers and others who are based in Walsall and elsewhere.

When we come to ‘rejiggle’ things at the end of January, this core structure will change and will look as follows –

• Response Teams – Officers will focus on the most pressing calls and will take initial details at jobs before handing on further investigations and prisoners to the Investigation Team.
• Neighbourhood Teams – As they are now, these officers will be able to focus on their beat and look at solving long term issues.
• Investigation Teams – My new home, we’ll be taking on investigations for further development, dealing with prisoners and also attending ‘scheduled’ appointments.
• Community Action and Priority Teams (CAPT) – A special pool of officers there to support neighbourhoods conducting drugs warrants or with specific issues for example, anti-social behaviour.

This structure seems to have worked well in other parts of the Force where it has been running for nearly a year and is similar to that adopted by other police forces around the country.

I’ve opted to join an Investigation Team as I fancy a change and a chance to learn a few new ‘skillz’ – we’ll be working alongside CID and I think it’ll be a pretty interesting and varied role.

Looking at how the change is likely to affect how we work and the service we offer to the public, I can certainly see the benefit as particularly as a response officer I’ve often found it frustrating trying to conduct ongoing investigations as we sometimes struggled to fit them in amongst other jobs.

We’d attend incidents and take initial details, the next shift though we might be unable to obtain further statements, make arrest enquiries and the like as new jobs are still coming in and we have to attend them.

With the new structure this isn’t so much of an issue as the Investigation Team pick up the enquiry and as they’re not at the beck and call of the radio, have the time to focus on developing the investigation.

From a victim’s point of view, I think this is better also as they’ll be a reliable point of contact, much better than me saying “I’ll try and call you for an update tomorrow but I’m on a night shift and then I’m off for four days” which was obviously never an ideal situation.

As for how the sizes of the teams have been decided, the task force have spent a great deal of time looking at pages of complicated, bewildering stats to come up with an accurate picture of when we are busiest and which resources and likely to be needed where. There’s a great deal of experience of other areas already ‘continually improved’ that has been drawn from too.

I’ve greatly enjoyed working on response and as we’ll still be required to attend ‘diary car’ appointments as we do now, will still be able to get out to jobs and show my face around the local Creme Egg merchants.

Continuous Improvement is likely the most significant structural change to have affected us here in Walsall since our ‘H1’ and ‘H2’ divisions were merged a couple of years ago under Program Paragon.

I’m looking forward to trying something new and to reassure some of the followers who have already asked, I’ll be keeping the tweets coming and I doubt this trusty old blog will be going anywhere either.

As Chief Superintendent Phillip Kay, leader of our Continuous Improvement program and someone who has featured on this blog before, has said:

“As we move forward as a force we are constantly looking at how we can improve our service to the public. The public want to know we are there when they need us, whether that’s as a rapid response to a 999 call or as a scheduled appointment to investigate a crime. They want us to focus on solving crime and being a part of their community. The new structure will allow us to do just that”.

Burglary and fireworks, the skies they were alighting…

When I was younger, around this time of the year Michael Burke would usually dedicate an episode of 999 to the dangers of fireworks.

In a frighteningly realistic re-enactment of a real life accident, ‘Johnny’ would bound over to his stunted firework, peer over it and casually get a rocket blasting up his left nostril.

The real life Johnny would reflect on the accident from a studio and then Burke would come along and remind everyone that pretty as fireworks are, they’re also filled with explosives as determined to blow you up as they are to entertain your marshmallow-filled guests.

As it is the case that fireworks are ‘ooooh, aaaahh’ inspiring and potentially dangerous in equal measure, the law imposes certain controls on their sale and use.

Today is November Fifth and so in the best British tradition of not setting of fireworks at any time other than Guido Fawkes Night itself, here is a quick overview of some of the key regulations covering the only explosives you’re likely to come across without falling fowl of the terrorism laws.

First of all, you need to have reached the wise old age of eighteen before you’re legally allowed to purchase any kind of fireworks, including sparklers.

Not only is it illegal for under eighteens to buy fireworks, it’s also against the law for them to have them in public.

Retailers need to hold an appropriate licence and buying fireworks privately from a dodgy bloke in a pub car park is as sure a way to get an arm blown off as wearing a bracelet made of hand grenades.

As for when you can set them off, the curfew set by the Fireworks Regulations 2004 states that you usually need to have your last rocket in the air by 11PM or 23:00, whichever you prefer.

There are certain exceptions to this curfew though, which are as follows –

• November Fifth – the curfew is midnight
• New Year’s Eve – an extra two hours of fireworks fun, a 1AM curfew
• Diwali – this year on November 13th the curfew is 1AM
• Chinese New Year – a 1AM curfew for February 10th 2013

So that covers who can have fireworks and when they can be set off, now how about where you’re allowed to get ballistic?

Moving away from our modern, iPod generation Fireworks Act, we look to S. 80 of 1875’s fluffy side burns, stove-pipe hat wearing Explosives Act which prohibits any person ‘throwing, casting, or firing any fireworks in or into any highway, street, thoroughfare, road or public place’.

For us police types, setting off fireworks in the street is a particular concern as not only being dangerous, it also causes a great deal of bother to residents who’d rather not re-enact the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Hit 9, 9 and 9 again if you see it happening.

Fireworks displays on private land aren’t an issue, although be mindful that you need the landowner’s permission beforehand.

So there we have it, a very quick run down of some of the most explosive laws on the books. Have a safe evening, enjoyable evening!